More from Florence

All right..I confess we've neglected this enterprise. Part of the problem is the lack of free W-Fi here. Europeans are cheap with their access. The other reason is that we have been too tired at night to think of writing. Here is a post from several days ago:

JANUARY 9^th:

Nell: Florence. We have picked up four new, very prominent members in our caravan: Iris, David, and the Madonna and child. In addition, every time I close my eyes, I see a marble penis or a deranged baby Jesus (seems that artists could only agree on one thing: he wasn’t cute). I’m a bit tired as we board the train to Rome due to the fact that Fin and I spent a majority of the night dealing with/worrying about our toilet that had sprung a leak (charming). Aside from that, I have also begun making plans to sell all my personal effects and move to Italy for good (now accepting donations). Florence was breath taking from both the top of the Duomo (another new good friend) and even more so from the hills on the outskirts of town. They know how to live over here. I’ll take my coffee with a corrector, my milk whole, a work day that ends at 2, wine with my lunch, and all of my food grown locally and presented fresh at the open market any day. Touché Italy, touché.

Kate: Iris and David (and Bernard for an evening) are fabulous hosts. Iris has made sure that we’ve seen more of Florence in two days than most people can in a week: museums, churches, beautiful scenery. She’s also made sure we’ve eaten a great variety of the local food: chestnuts, artichokes, amazing cheeses and, my favorite, gelatos. Florence is a beautiful place—that immerses the visitor into a level of Catholicism I haven’t experienced since Sister Dora’s class in sixth grade. I had forgotten how much we loved the torture of saints and the keeping of relics. We saw many pictures and statues of John the Baptist’s beheading but I’m happy to report his finger and tooth remain, both encased in more gold and jewels than you can imagine. Off to Rome with Iris beside us enriching our experience in every way—and making sure we waste not a minute!